William Perlman/The Star-LedgerKenny Phillips has injured his left knee for the second year in a row.

The Giants and Kenny Phillips have been adamant that his latest left knee injury has nothing to do with his last one. Friday, when Phillips sat out practice after working in a limited capacity the previous two days, the Giants even got specific by saying Phillips had sprained his medial collateral ligament.

But the fact he has an injury in the same knee that required microfracture surgery last year is clearly something about which the team is concerned. And it could be a reason Phillips, who is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Texans, sits out in Houston.

Originally, coach Tom Coughlin said Phillips would be limited only on Wednesdays and the team had started doing that last week as a precaution. Coughlin labeled Phillips’ knee as “tired and sore” but made no mention of the ligament sprain until Phillips sat out Friday.

Late in the loss against the Titans in Week 3, Phillips appeared to injure his knee. Trainers even pulled up his pant leg and looked at the knee, but he continues to say it wasn’t his knee he injured on that play. However, per Coughlin’s timeline, Phillips was limited in practice three days later because of the knee.

This week, Phillips practiced with a brace. Friday, he did some running without it.

“I feel good either way, to tell you the truth,” he said. “So if I decide to play, I’m 100 percent (confident).”

Coughlin said this latest’ injury was “not a surgical issue at all,” meaning it was unrelated to the arthritic condition that ended Phillips’ 2009 season after only two games.

But again, any issue in the same knee is cause for concern. Even Phillips admitted as such on Wednesday, when he said he was being limited as a precaution against re-injuring himself.

Playing with an MCL sprain could force Phillips to put more pressure on other parts of the knee, which would seemingly put him at risk of hurting his kneecap.

“It could be in some cases, but in this case it’s not, as far as I know,” Phillips said. “Talking to the trainers and everyone else, I’m pretty good... in my case, it’s pretty much nothing.”

"Nothing" is exactly how much Brian Jackson had done at safety before this week. But with Phillips a question mark for Sunday, the Giants needed to get someone ready as the third safety.

D.J. Johnson, who was on the roster all year and had worked at safety in the past, was not the one chosen. Instead, it’ll be Jackson. The former Jet was signed to the Giants’ practice squad in early September and added to the active roster when Michael Johnson was placed on injured reserve last week.

Jackson, a cornerback by trade who only played safety for about a week in college at Oklahoma, isn’t even sure whether he’ll be playing strong or free safety.

“I don’t know. Deep side,” said Jackson, who will see time in the dime defense if Phillips doesn’t play Sunday. “Whatever side is the deep side.”